Lederteller, Lederintarsie, Intarsie, Mosaik

Leather mosaics like the leather sets shown here are extremely rare testimonies of the handicraft skills in the art and culture of the Ottomans. They were used to put food on, like a table on the floor of a tent. The smaller leather plates are decorated with stylised flowers and inscriptions. The predominant motif, the tulip, (lalé), was seen as t h e Turkish flower in the second half of the 16th century.